Household coffee urn



Sept. 2,1930. H. l.. LAMBERT HOUSEHOLD COFFEE URN Filed sept. 5,'1929 III/111111111111111',

INVEN TOR.

. H. L. LAMBERT I TTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 2, 1930 f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HARRY-L LAMEERnLoE NORTH BERGEN, NEW JERSEY HOUSEHOLD coEEEE URN application led September 5,'1929.' Serial No. 390,534.

The coffee bean, when roasted, contains among other things, two products orcon# stituents. One of these is caffeine, and it is this element that produces the delightful,

l The other element is tannin, which has a lstinging,^bitter and undesirable taste and should be eliminated asy far as possible from the result-ingbrew or beverage.- It has. been estimated'that' the 'average cup of coffee served contains about, 1.70 grains of caffeine' and 2.30 grains of tannin. A very good cup of coffee is estimated*tofcontain about 2.20 grains of caffeine and .30 grains of tannin.'

.2q Caffeine is much more active than tannin,

and more easily extracted, and under proper conditions almost all ofthe caffeine in thef beans can be extracted, and a very, small percentage oftannin, the undesirableelement.Y Caffeine responds quickly to-'boiling -wa-ter, while tannin is very slow, acting, but con tinues to be extracted slowly from the grounds as long as the grounds are in .Water, no matter at what temperature; thus, if all 3 the coffee grounds or sediment is not removed from the coffee as soon fas the beverage or brew is completed, the tannin will continue V to be active even after the coffee has been consumed. The production of the ideal cupof 35 coffee therefore has been foundto dependen; first, the use of boiling water at about 212 F. ;sec'ond, the recovery ofall caeijne ;"third,

' reduction in recovery of tannin as muc-h as 1s 46 possible, and; fourth. absolute elimination ing brewor beverage. ,The production'of an ideal beverage is not as simple as it may seem, since as far as I am aware none of the present methods and. apparatus serves to. eliminate all grounds and sediment.

-My present invention has for its purpose to provide a simple, durable, portable, and easily operated urn for'the making of coffee for household and otheruses and in'its pres- 50 ent form is electrically heated. In practice pleasing coffee taste that appeals to al1 coffee" sembly, and,

of all grounds and sediment from the result-l `I provide two concentric containers the walls of which are separated and form a compartment therebetween for'the resulting beverage. Ihe inner container receives a suitable 55 amount of water', and interposed'in the top thereof is a container for the coffee grounds;

ya tube extends from the coffee container to the water and through Vwhich the steam 1s L projected' as the water is boiled so that it' permeates the coffee, absorbs the desired constituents and passes out at the top through a filter, and over and down into the space betweenthecontainers which serves as a receptacle, The advantages of my structure 65 and method reside inthe production of a .coffee beverage having ahigh percentage and recovery of caffeine and a 10W percentage of i tannin, with no introduction 'of grounds or sediment'into the fbeverage, which may be 70.

left standing in the urnv for a lon'gwhile "without injury to its flavor or other prop -y erties. The grounds do not drain off'l into .the 'resulting beverage.

Other and equally importantv objects of my inventionA will become apparent las the description Vof the same proceeds in greater detail, b ut interpretation .of thel scope of the invention should only be conclusive when made in the light ofthe sub'oin'ed claims.

In the drawings wherein have illustrated a referred form of myinvention j i igure 1 is a vertical: section -of the asv Figure 2 is a detail in section vof theA coffee ground container,fand Figure 3 is a modified means of attaching the tube in place. v

In the drawing like charactersof reference are @used to designate likev or similar parts throughout the several views.

My coffee urn proper, which includes the outer container is designated (1) and is preferably cylindrical in form andv has a side wall (2) and a bottom (3) which is extended with the plug (10) for heating the urn. Beneaththe heating element is a base compartment or chamber (11). `Seated on the part (7) or partition is an inner cylinder or container (12), between 'the wall (13) of which and the wall (2) of the urn or outer container is a space into which, the completed beverage is delivered in the manner which will be hereinafter described.

The upper edge of the container (12) is formed with threads receiving companion threads (14) of a coffee container (15) there being a countersunk opening (16)r in `the bottom of (17) thereof to support the flanged upper end ot' a tube (18) which extends to a point adjacent to the bottom of the container (12) to receive steam and moisture from water .in the container 12) when same has been raised to about 212 F. by the heating element (8). Overtop of tube (18) a screen (28) is placed to prevent the coffee grounds from falling down through the tube. The top of the container (15) is open,'but is peripherally flanged as at (19), and upon the flange (and after the coffee is inserted in the container) is placed a layer. of filtering material (20) and on top of the filter-v ing material is placed a foraminated plate (21) or a plate provided with4 a plurality of openings (22) .p The coffee container has screw threads adjacent its upper edge to be engaged by screwthreads (23) in a coverv and condensation plate (24) provided with an upstanding central 'tube (25) which is eX- tended up into the dome element (6). The urn has a suitable handle (26) and a mouth or pouring nozzle (27).

In operation, water is placed in the container (12), and the container (15) is filled with coffee, and the filter element (20) and Aplate (21) placed thereon; the top or cover (24) is then screwed into place, and the container (15) screwed into the top of container (12) the heating element (8) is then t-urned on. As the water is brought to about 212o F. pressure in the container (12) forces the water up in the tube (18) passes through the coffee in container (15) absorbing the desired products (but a very small amount of tannin), andpasses up through the filter element (20) and plate (21) removing absolutely all grounds and sediment, and thence out through tube (25) and down upon the cover or condensing plate (24), whence it drips to the reservoir compartment between theA two containers (12) .and (1). Inspection of the process is obtained by watching the dome (6) -Wherein the discharge end of the tube (25) is observable. When the water in container (12) is boiled away no fur'ther action will be seen 'through the dome.A It is to be noted that not only is the resulting beverage free from sediment-and grounds, but the damp grounds in container (15) do not drip down into the beverage, but drip into the such combination and arrangement of ele- (ments as constitute the prelerrcd iorni of my invention, it is nevertheless manifest that changes may be made in the details without departing from the spirit thereof, and to thatl end it is emphasized that interpretation of the invention should only be conclusive when inade in the light of the subjoined claims.

I claim l. In a utensil for making coHee, of the type having a lid and a transparent dome element, and aninner and an outer container, the walls of which are spaced from each other to form a compartment for receiving completed coffee beverage; the inner compartment having an open top, a third compartment for receiving coffee removably retainedin the open top of the inner compartment; said third compartment having a tube extending into the second compartment, a filter member placed over the third compartment, and a cover element on the third compartment having an upstanding discharge inner and outer containers.

2. In a utensil for making coffee, of the type having a receptacle for receiving water, and a lid and transparent dome element on the lid, areceptacle for receiving coffee grounds; the latter receptacle being arranged above the-first and separably connected thereto, a tube communicating with both the upper andthe lower receptacles at points adjacent the bottoms thereof, a filter means over the upper receptacle, acover element forming a compartment above the filter means i nd having an upstanding tube rising therefrom, and an'outer receptacle spaced from the upper and lower receptacles, said upper and lower receptacles being supported asa unit in the outer receptacle, and the tube rising from the compartment formed by the cover discharging into the transparent dome. Y

3. In a utensil for making coffee, of the type having a receptacle for receiving water, and a lid and transparent dome element in the v lid, a receptacle for receiving coffee grounds, the receptacle for receiving coffee grounds being attached to the top of the receptacle for receiving water, a tube in the bottom of the upper or coffee receptacle extending into the lower or water receptacle,

the coffee receptacle having an open top, a filter member over the open'top, a plate overl the lter member, a cover forming a compartment over the plate and, having an upstanding tube rising therefrom and into the dome element in the lid, and an outer receptacle in which the aforementioned receptacles are contained, said outer receptacle be ing spaced from the walls of the other re-A m ceptacles to provide a space for receiving completed coiee. In testimony whereof, I aix my signature hereunto, August 10, 1929.

HARRY L. LAMBERT. 

